


Lipstick

by m4gic_crafter



Category: Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: Awkward Romance, Comedy, Cute, F/F, Fluff, smooching your alien gf
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-02
Updated: 2019-01-02
Packaged: 2019-10-03 02:27:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,449
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17275382
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/m4gic_crafter/pseuds/m4gic_crafter
Summary: The mundane can be what matters most when you're far from home. Luckily, Sara Ryder still has her daily routines and a certain turian crew member to keep her sane.





	Lipstick

**Author's Note:**

> Minor spoilers for the game's plot & Vetra's romance route.

The bright light of Elaaden’s moons shone through the windows of the Pathfinder’s quarters. Music was softly playing in the background, as Sara Ryder sat on her bed, humming along. A small, peaceful moment she’d managed to steal for herself.

 

There were several toiletries carelessly splayed around her. Even as supplies were scarce in this new galaxy, she’d managed to snag some extra goods that weren’t included in the crew’s basic packs: fancy-smelling perfume, nail polish, several brightly-colored hair ties, and surprisingly some makeup. As mundane as these items might seem to others, they had become her little treasure trove. Ryder reached for the hair brush and began combing through her wet hair, a towel still draped along her shoulders. Her long hair had been dyed a vibrant shade of bluish-purple, but it was now fading back to bleached blonde. Noticing the dye bottle was running low, she asked SAM to remind her to order more soon.

 

Some of those items would have been impossible to get had it not been for Vetra. The expert smuggler had charmed an asari into trading her the nail polish bottles, as well as other items.

  
  
“Why do humans enjoy painting their nails?” Vetra had asked curiously, as she handed them over. “The colors cheer me up,” Ryder had replied, with a shrug and a smile. She glanced down at the turian's unadorned nails. “Wonder if it works on those. We should try it sometime!” Ryder said, grinning. She patted Vetra's arm and shot her a playful wink as she left the room. Ryder smiled fondly at the memory, continuing to comb her hair.

 

After the squad’s latest mission, where they had ended up fighting a Kett unit under the unforgiving heat of Elaaden, she _really_  needed that shower. Her cheeks and neck had ended up with a bad sunburn, despite the protective armor. Not to mention all the sweat. _Everywhere_.

 

The shower had felt heavenly. Ryder sighed contentedly as she stretched out her arms, finally able to relax. She couldn't resist another glance in her hand mirror, scrunching up her nose as she inspected her face. Her cheeks were still flushed a deep pink that would take several days to fade. It’ll match my lipstick perfectly, she thought, laughing dryly to herself.

 

It might seem silly to the rest of the crew, but applying makeup had become a ritual that helped Ryder feel normal again. It was something she used to do back in the Milky Way and something she could keep doing now in Andromeda. It was the vestige of the Sara she used to be, one of the last things that remains unchanged.

 

She bit her lip, concentrating as she slowly and carefully drew on her eyeliner, attempting the perfect wing.

 

“Aha! Got it,” she muttered to herself, satisfied as she finished drawing it on the other eye. Then, she noticed they were uneven. Great. Speaking of things that never change.

 

Sara sighed, now reaching down for a lime green hair tie.

 

Not everything was chaos and uneven eyeliner out here in Andromeda, though. Luckily, she’d found some small sources of joy. Her crew on the Tempest had become a new family. Losing her father had hit her hard, and while her twin brother Scott had eventually recovered from his coma, he still had to stay behind on the Nexus under the careful eye of the medical staff, instead of joining her on the ship.

 

Reaching for the lipstick, Ryder began meticulously applying it to her lips. Once done, she made a playful kissy face at the mirror and giggled. 

 

Sara smirked to herself, as she thought about a certain crew member. A tall, spiky, certain someone. The last time she’d worn this lipstick had been to meet Vetra in Kadara. They’d scaled a rocky mountain together, because Vetra had wanted to show her the view from up there. And then…

 

Sara flopped down on the bed with a giddy smile and reached for one of the pillows, covering her face with it, barely in time to muffle the sound of her squeal.

 

“Sara, are you okay?” SAM’s voice echoed through the room.

 

“Yes, SAM!” she groaned back at the AI.

 

“You had an uneven peak in your heartbeat.”

 

“I’m okay, SAM,” Sara interrupted, tossing the pillow aside. “And please do not mention heart stuff again because I’m still not over that whole heart-stopping trick you pulled.”

 

Sara continued laying face down on the bed, arms outstretched as she reminisced. She’d kissed her. They’d climbed up a mountain together and then she’d kissed her. Her lipstick had left a ridiculous lip-shaped mark on Vetra’s mouth plates and Ryder had a giggle fit as she noticed. After, they’d laid on the ground cuddling and holding hands until the stars shone on Kadara’s sky. They’d finally confessed their feelings for each other, and even called each other _girlfriends_.

 

That’d been less than a week ago. Sara couldn’t contain her joy at the memory, rolling on her side and reaching for the pillow again.

 

A knock came from the metallic door to her quarters.

 

Ryder sat up quickly, startled by the sound. Dammit, she had barely just finished her shower and someone was going to pester her with more responsibilities already? She bet it was an urgent vidcon call from Addison. Her favorite!

 

“SAM, can you check who it is?” she groaned at the AI assistant. “I swear, if it’s Cora insisting on biotics training again, right after a mission, I’m gonna…”

 

“It’s Vetra Nyx, Sara.” SAM declared.

 

“Oh! Uh… let her in!” Ryder answered, now panicking a little bit.

 

Her room was a complete mess, there’s no way Vetra could see this! She scrambled to start pushing clothes under the bed. Turians didn’t wear bras or panties, what with the metallic carapace, right?  _Sara now you’re thinking about nude turians, stop!_ But she sure didn’t want Vetra to see her dirty laundry just strewn about. Does Vetra even know what a bra looks like? Has she seen one before? Had she ever been with a human before? Should she ask? Now she was thinking about _that_ again.  _Stop!_ Vetra had to know, she must be selling bras by bulk to human settlers. Ha ha. A bra smuggler. Imagine that, bras becoming so rare that they have to b-

 

 _Ding_.

 

There was a soft chime from the doorway while Sara was still tossing some garbage into the trash can. The metal doors slid open.

 

“Hey, Sara.” Vetra said, trying to sound casual, her dual-toned voice wavering.

 

“Hi, Vetra!” Sara practically squealed, turning around quickly.

 

Although they had already confessed their feelings for each other, they still weren’t used to being around each other as  _girlfriends._

 

“I wanted to check on you, after today’s mission.” Vetra said, entering the room.

 

“Sure! Uh... Come in!” Sara moved to and plopped down on the couch, patting beside her.

 

Vetra eagerly made her way to the couch, sitting next to Ryder.

 

“So…” Ryder said, scooting closer to the turian. “How is the uh… checking-on-me going?”

 

She chuckled nervously, while Vetra placed her hand over Ryder’s. It was strange, yet comforting, how her three-fingered hand could so easily fit with Sara’s human one. She squeezed back gently, feeling the warm leather of Vetra’s gloves.

 

Vetra broke the brief silence. “It was tough out there, those Kett were fast. I’m glad to see you’re in one piece after that. And you survived the heat. I know you humans are weak to that.” Vetra said, one of her eyebrow plates rising up as she laughed.

 

“What about turians and the cold?” Ryder jabbed back, playfully nudging Vetra in the stomach with her elbow. “Remember Voeld? How you practically _begged_ me and Jaal to find another one of those heater thingies?”

 

“Luckily, I now have a squishy, warm human to protect me from those cold, cold planets.” Vetra said, her mandibles flapping in the turian equivalent of a smug smile, as she wrapped her arm around Ryder’s shoulders.

 

“Oh, now you have the smooth pick-up lines, huh?” Ryder quipped back, settling comfortably against Vetra’s chest. She was noticeably taller than Ryder, making it easy for Vetra to rest her head on Ryder's.

 

Vetra started softly running her talons through Ryder’s hair. Sara closed her eyes, smiling.

 

“Sometimes I wonder why you humans are so fond of colorful things.”

 

“We have to make up for the fact we don’t have blue skin or fancy carapaces.” she replied, chuckling softly.

 

Vetra turned her head around, glancing around the room as she relaxed. Suddenly, she let out a laugh. “Speaking of colorful, I didn't know you decorated your pillows with your lips.”

 

“Oh shi- I didn’t!” Ryder blurted out, covering her face with her hands in embarrassment.

 

“What were you doing, Sara?” Vetra replied, her voice smug. “Were you practicing something?”

 

“I wasn’t doing-! It was an accident!” Ryder groaned, sinking into the couch. She’d forgotten she was wearing makeup when she grabbed onto that pillow earlier.

 

“I think it’s… cute. How you’re always wearing that, I mean.”

 

“You do?” Ryder replied, now sharing Vetra's smug smile. With a sudden rush of bravery, she leaned in and planted a kiss on her girlfriend’s cheek, leaving a hot-pink mark.

 

Vetra sat there in silence, her mandibles fluttering in shock. She blinked slowly, and then met Sara’s gaze. “Two can play this game, Ryder.”

 

“Ha! You don’t even have li-.” Before Ryder could complete her taunt, it was muffled by Vetra pressing her mouth plates against Sara’s lips.

 

Ryder parted the kiss and smiled, gently pressing their foreheads together. “Heh. Now we match.” Raising her hand to Vetra's face, Ryder began rubbing off some of the lipstick stains with her thumb. Suddenly, her eyes began to twinkle with deviousness.

  
  
“I have an idea. Hold on.” Ryder abruptly stood up, leaving a perplexed Vetra on the couch.

  
  
She rushed back to her bed, shifting through toiletries until she found what she was looking for. “Aha!”

 

“Ryder, what are you doing?” Vetra chuckled from across the room, staring curiously at her girlfriend, who was quickly returning to the sofa.

 

“Ever since Kadara, I’ve been thinking about this… and now that we have the opportunity...” Ryder said, smirking playfully as she planted herself on Vetra’s lap, facing her.

 

“Thinking about what, exactly?” Vetra said, her voice shaking and mind racing through thousands of thoughts.

 

“Listen, it’s extra silly but...” Ryder met Vetra’s gaze with a pleading look that would put a begging puppy to shame.  “Would you please let me?”

 

“Ryder…” Vetra squinted her eyes suspiciously.

 

“Can I paint some lips on you? With my lipstick. It’s gonna be hilarious and now _you’ll_ be able to leave a mark on _my_ face.”

 

“If that would make you happy...” Vetra said, feeling a bit embarrassed over what she'd assumed Ryder meant.

 

“Yes!!” Ryder exclaimed, raising her arms triumphantly.

 

“Okay so now I just have to…” Sara mumbled, gripping the lipstick and starting to carefully trace it along Vetra’s mouth plates. “Heh… hehe…” Ryder bit her lip to contain her giggles. Vetra just stared down at her girlfriend with an eyebrow raised. The things she did for her…

 

“Almost, almost...” Ryder muttered.

 

Vetra chuckled softly. “What’s ta-”

 

“Shush, don’t move! You’ll make it uneven!” Sara took one more look at the turian’s face before declaring “And, done!”

 

“I guess I can do this now, then.” Vetra said, leaning in to press her newly painted mouth-plates against Ryder’s cheek.

 

 _Ding_.

 

The metallic doors to Ryder’s quarters chimed as they opened again, unnoticed by both Sara and Vetra.

 

“Hey, Ryder! Just made a new development on the rem-tech we found the other da- _whoa._ ” Peebee lifted her gaze from the datapad she was holding and noticed the two girls on the couch.   


“What th-! Shit!” Sara yelled, startled, the lipstick tube flying from her hand and landing on the couch.

 

“Well, fuck.” Vetra muttered.

 

Peebee’s cheeks inflated like a chipmunk as she tried to suppress her laughter. Unable to, she just burst and released a maniacal cackle.

 

“Peebee you can’t just enter my room without knocking!” Ryder blurted out, exasperated, her entire face burning deep red.

 

Vetra remained paralyzed, with a blank expression on her face.

 

“What kind of weird fetish thing is this?” Peebee asked, once she could control her laughter. She had to lean against the wall and pant for breath.

 

“It’s not…! Ugh! SAM, kill me now!” Sara yelled, flopping down on the couch dramatically and pulling her hoodie up to cover her face.

 

“I’m afraid I can’t do that, Sara.” SAM’s nonchalant voice echoed in the room.

 

“That was a joke!” Ryder cried out, curling up into a ball of shame.

 

Vetra still hadn't moved an inch.

 

Another voice could be heard coming from the hallway. “Hey, what’s with all this ruckus?” Liam asked curiously, as he approached Peebee in the doorway.

 

“No!” A muffled scream came from a hoodie-bundled Sara.

 

Liam, finally taking in the bizarre scene, also started laughing. “Damn, Ryder, I didn’t know you were into this sorta thing. I should take a picture for Sid!”

 

“No!” Vetra finally unfroze, screaming as soon as she heard her younger sister’s name being mentioned.

 

“Just get out of here and let me die of shame!” Sara groaned.

 

“Alright, alright, I’ll leave you two gals to it. Just don’t have too much fun without me!” Peebee said, winking teasingly at both girls as she left the room.

 

“Ryder, if I don’t tell Cora about this, you owe me one.” Liam said, a shit-eating grin on his face.

 

“Fine. Anything! I’ll pay you a thousand credits! Just... go!” Ryder rolled over on the couch as she spoke.

 

Once Liam finally left, the doors shut again.

 

Sara and Vetra sat in silence, processing what had just happened.

 

Suddenly, a small giggle escaped Ryder’s lips, quickly followed by Vetra’s laughter. In seconds, they were both belly-laughing loudly.

 

“I can’t believe… Peebee’s face… And yours… pfft-haha!” Ryder said, between laughs, tears rolling from her eyes.

 

Vetra laughed, joining her girlfriend and lying down beside her, stretching out her arms to hold Ryder. In return, Sara nuzzled against her chest, wrapping her arms around the turian’s waist.

 

Both sighed, feeling calmer after laughing it out.

 

“Hey, Vetra.”

 

“Hmm?”

 

“You’re incredible.”

 

“Am I?” Vetra replied, pressing her forehead against Ryder’s and closing her eyes.

 

Ryder closed her eyes as well, starting to doze off. This was going to be one of many wild moments she and Vetra would share together, and she couldn’t wait to experience them all. Ryder finally fell asleep to dreams of their future adventures, snuggling comfortably against her tall, spiky girlfriend.

  



End file.
